On top of the roof, he moved with agility, as if walking on flat ground.
With a flick of his wrist, iron nails shot out.
He had thrown out fifteen iron nails in total.
Zhang Chen had already moved from the roof to the wooden fence.
He turned around to look.
All fifteen iron nails were nailed into the black spot, none missed.
“Your ‘Throwing Needle’ skill isn't bad!”
Zhang Chen secretly praised himself.
“Within twenty meters, I can achieve a hundred percent hit rate, thirty meters is barely manageable, beyond forty meters it’s all luck, and the power isn’t enough either!”
Zhang Chen reviewed in his mind.
Without the support of the Xuan Tian Gong inner strength.
Relying solely on physical strength and hidden weapon techniques.
This distance was his limit.
“Still not bad!”
Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
He jumped down from the fence.
He walked to the wooden stake.
He pulled out all the iron nails one by one and put them away.
Then he started to pull out the needles.
One, two… eight, nine…
Hmm?
Why is there one missing?
Damn it!
It must have been knocked down by the iron nails just now.
I have to look for the needle again.
What a hassle.
I'm so broke!
Helpless.
He could only lie on the ground and search carefully.
…
The sun was setting in the west.
The firewood in the corner of the wall was all chopped.
The water in the pot had boiled several times.
Yet, there was still no sign of Uncle Li.
Zhang Chen was so hungry his stomach was sticking to his back.
He kept looking at the entrance, his eyes filled with longing.
Finally, a black spot appeared in the distance.
“Uncle Li!”
Zhang Chen’s eyes lit up, he ran towards him and took his carrying pole.
“Boy, you must be starved!”
Uncle Li tapped his tobacco pouch, and asked with a smile.
“Of course, I’ve been hungry all day!”
Zhang Chen stared at the bulging carrying pole, his eyes were green with envy.
“I got delayed at the market, I’m late, we’ll cook now!”
Uncle Li smiled, and then mysteriously lifted the cloth covering the basket at the end of the carrying pole.
“We’re having a feast today, there’s meat!”
Zhang Chen took a look, and sure enough, there was a big piece of fat.
Although there wasn’t much lean meat.
But this thing, in these times, was the top-notch stuff.
He had been here for a month, his stomach had no oil or water.
Not to mention fat.
Even offal, pig intestines, were good things.
“Uncle Li is still resourceful, we’re improving our lives today!”
Zhang Chen beamed with joy.
“After this job is done, we’ll have twenty big silver dollars, let’s go to a restaurant!”
Uncle Li was so excited he was drooling.
“Uncle Li, what exactly is this job? Why are they paying so much?”
Zhang Chen curiously asked, “Could it be a shady job?”
“It can’t be a simple job, they’re paying this much, you’d have to be an idiot to think it’s easy!”
Although Uncle Li seemed honest and simple.
He actually had a cunning mind.
He was very shrewd.
However, he wasn’t a bad person.
He took me in, giving me a roof over my head.
He also saw that I was strong and could be an assistant.
After all, Uncle Li had been alone his whole life.
He was old and weak now.
Although he had some connections for odd jobs, his physical strength had declined significantly.
That’s why he took me in.
He considered me as a disciple.
In his words.
It was called sharing a living, earning a living.
Not bad.
I learned a lot from him.
I gained a lot of knowledge.
Those bandits from Changsheng Mountain.
And the secrets of the nine gates in Changsha City.
This Li Sigou told me a lot about them.
As for whether he was a big shot.
I haven’t found any evidence yet.
Although he had some skills for odd jobs.
He was still living a poor life.
He did everything, from haircuts to foot massages, carrying manure, paper-making, carrying corpses, digging graves, and so on.
He did any kind of job.
Just barely surviving.
These days, life is hard.
They carried the things into the courtyard.
Put down the baskets.
They took the half bag of rice flour and the three-jin piece of fat pork to the kitchen.
They immediately started making noodles.
My noodle-making skills had improved significantly in the past month.
In a short time.
Two large bowls of white noodles.
Drizzled with garlic sauce.
A scoop of pork fat.
Sprinkled with some fried oil residue.
Only then did they bring it out.
Li Sigou sat by the door.
He slurped down a bowl in a few gulps.
Zhang Chen wasn't slow either.
He quickly finished it too.
“Another bowl, more fat!”
Uncle Li shouted.
“No problem!”
Zhang Chen smiled.
In these times, being able to eat your fill was the happiest thing.
They had four bowls each.
Zhang Chen was still not full.
Uncle Li wasn't bad either, he could manage three bowls at this age.
Full and satisfied.
Uncle Li paced around the yard.
He suddenly stopped in front of a wooden stake by the fence.
Looking at the wooden stake, which was all mangled, he said with shining eyes, “Looks like your hidden weapon skills are quite good, you actually have this kind of talent, I’ve struck gold!”
“Of course, I had to beg you to take me in!”
Zhang Chen said.
He couldn't hide his practice from Uncle Li.
However, he couldn’t tell him the origin.
He attributed it all to his talent.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too extraordinary.
As an old hand, Uncle Li had heard stories of many strange and talented people.
There were quite a few people who knew how to use these darts and hidden weapons.
But now, seeing that this boy he picked up could achieve a hundred percent hit rate, all on one point.
He was better than some hidden weapon experts.
This was a secret move, it couldn’t be easily revealed.
It could save his life when necessary.
“Little Zhang, what can you do now?”
Old Li asked.
Hearing his serious tone, Zhang Chen also put away his smile and replied solemnly, “Within thirty meters, I can definitely hit the target with my throwing needles a hundred percent of the time!”
“Thirty meters?”
Old Li silently calculated the distance.
Wow!
That’s not close.
He would be even more powerful within ten meters.
“Not bad, not bad, your talent is truly exceptional!”
Old Li nodded.
Then he solemnly instructed, “This is a secret between you and me, don’t let anyone else know, this is your life-saving skill, remember to be cautious, don’t show it in front of others, it might save your life at a crucial moment!”
“Thanks for the reminder, Uncle Li!”
Zhang Chen nodded.
He knew Uncle Li was well-intentioned.
But…
My skills are more than just this one.
“Let’s rest for a while, we’ll leave when night falls!”
Uncle Li said.
“Okay!”
Zhang Chen nodded.
Then, they each went back to their rooms to rest and prepare.
…
The sun completely set.
The darkness enveloped the forest.
It was probably around nine o’clock at night.
They left the house.
They were both wearing coarse cloth clothes.
They weren’t good looking, but they were strong and durable.
Each of them had their own self-defense tools.
Zhang Chen had a kitchen knife at his waist.
On the inside pockets of his clothes, one side had ten embroidery needles.
The other side had fifteen iron nails.
They had all been sharpened with sandpaper.
He had also carved twenty-some wooden arrows, as thick as a finger, from the dense wood in the forest.
Although their power was insufficient, they could make up the numbers.
He also prepared thirty-some pebbles of nearly the same size in his pocket.
They were all personally selected by Zhang Chen, the most convenient to use.
This matter was probably no small feat.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to make all possible preparations.